Kudos to the #Rutgers University Senate:
https://senate.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Resolution-to-Establish-a-Mutual-Defense-Compact-for-the-Universities-of-the-Big-Ten-Academic-Alliance-in-Defense-of-Academic-Freedom-Institutional-Integrity-and-the-Research.pdf

"Be it resolved that, the Rutgers University Senate urges the President of Rutgers University to formally propose and help establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (#MADC) among all members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance [#BTAA]…Under this compact, all participating institutions shall commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund…Participating institutions shall make available, at the request of the institution under direct political infringement, the services of their legal counsel, governance experts, and public affairs offices to coordinate a unified and vigorous response."

#Academia #Universities
@academicchatter

Update. #IndianaUnversity just signed on to the #Rutgers plan for a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (#MADC).
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/16/trump-universities-response

PS: I can't tell how many other universities have signed on. Is anyone tracking this?

#Academia #Universities
@academicchatter

US universities’ faculty unite to defend academic freedom after Trump’s attacks

Indiana University leads the push for a pact among 18 institutions as Donald Trump targets diversity

The Guardian

Update. The Chronicle of Higher Education says that the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have also signed on.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/these-faculty-senates-are-trying-to-band-together-to-stand-up-to-trump
(#paywalled)

PS: But I'm still looking for a person or group tracking this progress.

#Academia #Universities
@academicchatter

Update. "Some Universities Are Done Playing Defense Alone—They’re Building an Army"
https://cloakinginequity.com/2025/04/14/some-universities-are-done-playing-defense-theyre-building-an-army-for-mutual-defense/

"Faculty and institutional leaders are responding with something both pragmatic and profound: Mutual Academic Defense Compacts…Faculty are…taking collective action. These mutual defense compacts are more than symbolic gestures; they represent the infrastructure of resistance. They aim to ensure that when universities are politically targeted—whether over curriculum, hiring practices, or research agendas—they can respond rapidly, forcefully, and in solidarity."

#Academia #Universities #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter

Some Universities Are Done Playing Defense—They’re Building an Army for Mutual Defense

A New Era of Academic Solidarity A quiet revolution is taking place in higher education—but not in classrooms or laboratories. It’s happening in Faculty Senates, university councils, and acade…

Cloaking Inequity
What is the Big Ten Mutual Defense Compact? MSU Faculty Senate urges university to join

Michigan State University's Faculty Senate urges leaders to join the resolution that would support defense of academic freedom and research.

Lansing State Journal
SUNY UFS MADC Action (5/20/2025)

SUNY UFS MADC Action: Why? How? What Next? Bruce Simon SUNY University Faculty Senate President-Elect 5/20/2025

Google Docs

Update. See the progress toward a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (#MADC) from the 25 colleges making up the City University of New York (#CUNY).

#Academia #Universities #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter

Update. The U of Massachusetts Amherst is keeping track of which institutions have signed the Mutual Academic Defense Compact (#MADC).
https://www.umass.edu/senate/madcs-tracker

#Academia #Universities #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter

The Big Ten Rises Up Against Trump

The press acts as if “higher education” = Harvard. But a more interesting and gutsier stand is being taken in the heartland by schools that have a lot more going for them than football.

The New Republic
@petersuber This is fantastic. As it happens, my kiddo will be attending Rutgers this fall. @academicchatter
@petersuber @[email protected]

Given how most of the B1G's schools'. budgets come from government and commercial research grants, they're going to need to do
something.

As A PSU alum, it's my hope that "something" isn't "knuckle under".
@petersuber @academicchatter @drb We must all hang together or assuredly we will hang separately.
@petersuber @academicchatter
It's good to see people of principle taking the reins away from weak-kneed administrators.